First Medically Certified Rugby Head Guard Launched

N-Pro, the first rugby head guard scientifically proven to provide impact protection has launched today in the UK and Ireland. N-Pro (short for Neuro Protection) is the world’s first, and only, sports head guard with a CE-marked Medical Device classification.

The product incorporates propriety defentex technology, designed to reduce the G-Force energy transferred to a player’s head during impact; one of the major factors in sports-induced brain injuries. N-Pro manages the G-Force through its multi-layer construction, reducing the energy transferred to the brain by up to 75% compared to current head guards on the market.

N-Pro has been produced by Contego Sports, a company based in Galway, Republic of Ireland. The founders, Mark and Dr Sandra Ganly, have combined their experience in two different fields to develop N-Pro. Mark Ganly has over ten years’ experience in sports equipment design and manufacturing, while Dr Sandra Ganly has extensive experience in the field of biomedical engineering and medical device innovation.

Contego set out to develop a medical device that addressed the common consensus amongst neurological experts that linear and rotational acceleration are major factors in sport-induced brain injuries. Development took three years and has involved an international team of neurological experts.

Martin Raftery, chief­ medical officer, Wor­ld Rugby commented: “Player welfare is Wo­rld Rugby’s number on­e priority and we wel­come any commitment t­o injury prevention r­esearch. We have watc­hed the development o­f the N-Pro with inte­rest over the last three ­years. We will monito­r its use and look fo­rward to seeing feedb­ack.”

N-Pro was also designed to address the common issues players see as barriers to wearing head guards. The design enables better peripheral vision and hearing, moisture wicking technology to keep the player cool and fully adjustable straps for a better fit.

Mark Ganly, Contego Sports founder commented: “We set out to make a product that reduced the risk of brain injury to the player. In our view we could only do this if we applied science and developed a medical device, not just a piece of sports equipment. Ultimately, our aim is to enable more players of all ages and abilities to play rugby for longer, and now that we’re launching N-Pro, we hope to achieve that.”

Steve Martin, CEO, M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment, who is supporting the launch, commented: “We are very well versed as an agency in launching campaigns around new products, but we got behind the development of the N-Pro head guard more than 18 months ago as we felt it was a truly ground breaking concept, which is genuinely going to help reduce the amount of brain injuries in rugby. Nobody within the game seemed to be looking at how to prevent concussion as every debate was focused on what happened after a player was concussed. The N-Pro approach was to change this, therefore they created a product which is a medical device first and foremost and has been put through the most rigorous medical testing scenarios but is obviously very player friendly and easy to wear.”